RIBBON DYING

8 TIPS FOR "STRESS-FREE" JOURNALLING

SCRAPBOOK TIDBITS

FAUX BOW

8 TIPS FOR "STRESS-FREE" JOURNALLING

How often have you "somewhat" completed a page or two except for the journaling? And how many times have you said to yourself - "I'll get back to that part of it later" and forget to?? All too many times we tend to let the one thing that is so important in our scrapbooking go by the wayside - Journaling and why - because we make it harder on ourselves. We are either unsure of "where" to begin in our journaling or we think we have to write something "spectular" - instead of realizing that journaling is all about the feelings and emotions that went along with the photo's at that time.

Here are some "tips" that I hope will help make journaling easier:

1. Write like you speak. Express the feelings you had at the time the photo was taken or the emotions you have even now remembering that time. Express it in your owns words and this will give the reader the sense that you are right there telling you personally all about it- they can "hear you" saying that.

2. Let someone else that is involved in the photo do the journaling. By letting someone else that was either in the photo or there at the time you took the photo, you are giving a whole "new perspective" on what happened and feelings at that time.

3. Speak to your audience in the present tense. In other words, if you are describing an event in your son's life, express it like you are telling him now what he did when he was younger. Using present tense will make it easier to express your feelings and emotions at the time of the photo.

4. Describe what is happening in the photo coming from the person in the photo - i.e. a small child. By expressing yourself through the person in the photo you are adding more creativity and fun to your journaling. Especially if the subject has a funny expression on their face.

5. Keep notes while taking photos. You won't always be able to crop your photo's right away and sometimes something amazing happens at that time, and you want to be sure to capture it in words as well, so write down some brief thoughts, etc at that time. This will make journaling so much easier when you have time to sit down and crop.

6. Make a List. Don't just use quotations when journaling. This tends to become "impersonal". By making lists, you are writing down key points of things that happened at that point in time and you can always find a way to creatively incorporate your lists into an integral part of the design or layout.

7. Write a note to yourself. What better way to express yourself than by writing a "journal" to yourself. No pressures if you look at it this way. This way you are merely jotting down thoughts and feelings at the time of the photo's. And your own handwriting is so very important to "see" in your journaling. Remember, your hand-written journals are so much more personal than a typed one.

8. Keep a record of fleeting thoughts. Sometimes we either say or hear the strangest things and than later when we are discussing them again, we ususally tend to "forget" some of the key parts of the conversation. By keeping track of even the slightest of thoughts, you are sharing with your reader an intimate part of yourself.

Most important of all - "try" to journal in your own handwriting, regardless of how you feel about it, your handwriting is something so special that it will trigger memories from everywhere once the reader sees it. And those moments of remembering the writer is so important and special. Nothing can replace those kinds of memories.